Hello, Dear Reader. I am raising myself from the near-dead to offer you another in my unplanned series of “a different kind of book review.” And this book is so worth me rallying myself to the computer. I hope you enjoy the review. Even more so, I hope you buy this book!
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Misty closed the book, brushed her hand across the green patterned cover, and then reopened it to a dog-eared page. Her fingers traced the words while she read them quietly to herself: “Real life was out there, away from the nuns and their rules, and away from the tiny village below, where nothing ever changed.” Misty would argue that she had spent her whole young life believing “real life” was “out there,” outside the small impoverished coastal town she grew up in, outside the prison that had been her home for two years. Nothing ever changed in Oyster Point, and nothing ever changed in prison. And because of that, this book–Changelings: Into the Mist–had been a godsent for her.
The novel was given as a gift by the prison librarian, Lorene. Misty closed the book and hugged it to her chest. This novel of changelings, Fae, and magic, time travel and Irish lore might have saved her life, at least her sanity while she was looking down twenty years in prison. And almost like magic, she had been pulled through to another world.
She looked over at the twin bed next to hers. She thought it was funny that Sarah had chosen to share Misty’s room rather than stay with Michael in his. She was glad for it, though. She didn’t want to be alone. Not yet. Sarah, she thought, was something like the characters in this novel. Sean and Maureen, although they were teenagers, 15, 16 years old, and Sarah was a lot older than that, Misty knew. Maybe 26? Sarah was headstrong like Maureen. She took risks.
But when they first met, she seemed very quiet and clear-headed. She didn’t seem like someone who would body slam men twice her size. She could imagine Maureen doing that with Sean cringing in the corner. Misty laughed and started leafing through the book. After a few minutes, Sarah came out of the bathroom. A light odor of patchouli followed her out as she padded over to the empty bed and sat down.
“Did you finish the novel?” Sarah idly towel-dried her long curly red hair. For a moment, Misty imagined a band of shimmering flowers encircling her head.
Misty nodded. “Do you like to read?” She felt hesitant. Other than Lorene and Michael, she had never really talked about books to anyone. Most people thought she was too stupid because she hadn’t finished high school.
“I love to read. So, tell me, what’s this about?” Sarah leaned over for a closer look at the cover. “I love that cover.”
“Well, it’s about two teenagers–Sean and Maureen–and how they get pulled back through time because they’re what you call changelings. And there’s Dub–.” Misty laughed to cover her embarrassment. “I don’t know if I’m saying his name right, so I think of him as D. He’s a Druid, but he’s a mortal man. That’s what he keeps saying although I can’t think of any mortal man who can do the things he does.”
Sarah wrapped the towel around her head and propped herself up against the pillows. Better make myself comfortable, she thought. Misty’s gearing up.
“Anyway, I can’t say I totally understand. I mean, so much happens. Well, first off, Maureen and Sean are orphans and even though they’re treated okay by the nuns, it’s a boring life. Oh, it starts in 1958. Well, they wind up falling through time, all the way to 16th century. They wind up working with pirates, while they’re also trying to figure out a way to get back to their own time. Then D shows up and he tries to help them, but something goes wrong and instead of going all the way back to their original time, they get stuck in 1916. There’s something called The Rising that supposed to happen and they get involved with that. But most of that is Maureen’s doing. Sean tries to stop her from getting involved because, you know, she could change history, but she won’t listen to him. I didn’t understand why at first but later, when they try again to get home and they wind up among the Fae–”
Sarah put up her hand. It was taking every ounce of her strength to keep from laughing as Misty froze in mid-sentence. She had only known Misty for a short while, but the difference between the meek young girl at the prison and the spirited teenager before her this moment was breathtaking.
“I take it that you enjoy this novel?”
“Oh, yes! Five thumbs up!” Misty laughed. She knew that she could be a motor-mouth once she felt free to talk, once she felt someone was really listening. “It’s so much fun, but scary too in some parts. There’s three parts to the novel, actually, but it’s all about Ireland. The pirates, the rebellion, the Fae. It’s all Ireland. Kind of makes me want to go there, you know? The third part is one the one that really scared me at times, you know, because it’s about the fairies and magic and a very evil king. D again tries to help but he needs help himself. And the king is so evil that his own daughter is against him, and she works with D to try and save Maureen and Sean. And what’s really cool is the author includes a bunch of stuff at the back, like a list of the characters, how to pronounce some of the words, and she even tells you what is true and what she made up.”
Misty held up the book as if appraising it. “You know, if textbooks were written like this, I might have done better in school.”
“Does it end happily?” Sarah thought this was an innocent question and so was perplexed when Misty hesitated.
“Well … . Yes and no. It doesn’t really end. I mean, you could say it ends if you just want to read the one novel, but this is part of a series. And I’m glad for that because I want to read more about Maureen and Sean and especially D.” Misty paused for a moment and a slight flush colored her cheeks. “D kind of remains me of Michael. I know he blames himself for what happened to me. D is responsible for Maureen and Sean. And like D tries to save them, Michael risked his own life to try and save mine.”
Without a word, Sarah went over to Misty and the two women wrapped their arms around each other. Sarah could feel a slight shudder as Misty gave way to tears that had been building up for too long.
***
And now, Dear Reader, make your way over to any of the vendors/websites listed below to get your copy of Changelings: Into the Mist. Actually, you will want to get two copies: one for yourself, of course, and one for a young reader. The novel is listed as appropriate for grade levels 4 through 12, but, trust me, you don’t have to a youngster to enjoy the ride Changelings will take you on.
And be sure to follow Katie Sullivan at any of your favorite social media outlets:
The D/A Dialogues (where D, the Druid of Changelings, and A, author Katie Sullivan, provide witty entertainment)
Katie Sullivan (her own website, one she doesn’t have to share with D who can be incorrigible at times)
Marie at 1 Write Way 